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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 17h

Interestingly, Trump issued an executive order during his first term that would expand the reach of Association Health Plans (AHPs) to include organizations like SFWA, but it was found to violate Erisa and was ultimately rescinded.

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 1d

In the late nineties, SFWA offered health insurance in cooperation with the National Writers Union, but the company went into decline and SFWA stopped participating. SFWA also offered health insurance for members in the eighties, but that also didn't last.

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 9d

I agree it ambiguous and not well written, but since (i) is part of clause 2a the first rights would still be nonexclusive.

Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 9d

Read it again. The contract says "(excluding any “Best-of-Year” collections)".

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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 11d

New neuroscience short story forthcoming in @analogsf.bsky.social! Which also means a story of - ultimately successful - negotiations with their new publisher.

Includes full final text of my contract for all to use while they finish rewriting their boilerplate.

benjaminckinney.com/analog-negot...

Analog Negotiations & Short Story Sale: Recognition, Memory » Benjamin C. Kinney - still pruning...

Successful negotiations with Must Read Magazines & Analog SF, who will publish my science fiction short story "Recognition, Memory."

benjaminckinney.com

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Garrett Wollman @gwollman.bsky.social · 13d

I think you could in theory still have a class action without these elements, but no attorney would take the case because they'd have to recover their fees solely from the representative class members (the ones who actually file the suit) who might win and still get nothing depending on the facts.

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 12d

Harlan has 47 works in the settlement.

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 12d

Thanks. Estate members should be getting notice directly from the Settlement Administrator.

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 12d

We're working on it.

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 12d

Yes, it's still active. www.sfwa.org/what-is-sfwa...

Estates Contact Information - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association

Note: SFWA does not itself represent any estates, but only acts to connect interested parties to estate representatives. While SFWA […]

www.sfwa.org

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 13d

Future settlements of AI ingesting copyrighted works should include a wider swath of authors, but settlements won't be approved if the class is too diverse or there's no practical way to find and notify a large percentage of them.

Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 13d

Yes, you can quote that. I take a practical view of the settlement. The likely outcome of the lawsuit was everything, including scraping pirate sites, was fair use. Any outcome that included paying authors is a massive victory for all authors, including ones who didn't have registered copyrights.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 15d

I'm seeing an increasing number of scams like the one below, leveraging the widespread problem of publishing scams w/ a faux service promising to fix problems author is having w/ the original scam but really to hit them up for more $$ (note the "Amazon partner agency" claim: there's no such thing)

From: Blaire Andrews <bandrews@royaltypilots.com>
Date: Wed, Oct 8, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Subject: Your royalties on Amazon
To: [redacted]

Hi [redacted]

I’m Blaire from Amazon Partners – Royalty Pilots.
We’re an Amazon agency commissioned to help authors migrate their books from third-party publishers to their own Amazon KDP accounts.

I’m reaching out because we’ve spoken with many authors who recently shared frustrations that you might also be experiencing while being published through a third-party service provider—such as:

Royalties that never seem to arrive or come with little to no explanation.

No visibility or control over how many copies have been sold or where those sales are happening.

Endless upsells and new charges every time you want to make even a small change to your book.

Through Amazon KDP, authors are now publishing their books directly with Amazon — with no middlemen involved.
This means:

Royalties are sent straight to your bank account every month.

You can track real-time sales data through your own KDP dashboard.

You have full ownership and control over your books, including the freedom to make revisions free of charge.

If you’d like to explore how this can work for you, I’d love to schedule a quick call. Please let me know your best contact number and the most convenient time to reach you.

Blaire Andrews

Senior Marketing Manager – Partners, Authors

Royalty Pilots, an Amazon partner agency

Phone: 315-325-9099
Email: bandrews@royaltypilots.com

Website: https://royaltypilots.com/

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 21d

The Authors Guild doesn't deserve the blame here. The definition of the class, which included the copyright registration requirement, was suggested by the judge. The Authors Guild was not a plaintiff in this case and was called in as an advisor long after the class had been certified.

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 21d

www.sfwa.org/anthropic-faq/

Anthropic FAQ - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association

Frequently Asked Questions about the Anthropic/AI Settlement Please note that all answers are based on the settlement documents as of […]

www.sfwa.org

Reposted by Michael Capobianco

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 22d

The list of works eligible for the Anthropic copyright infringement settlement has been posted on the settlement website. I've updated my blog post on the settlement with inks, general info, and what happens next writerbeware.blog/2025/09/26/b...

Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement: An Update for Authors - Writer Beware

The searchable list of eligible works is available at the settlement website (also see the update below): https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup BACKGROUND A year ago, a group of autho...

writerbeware.blog

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 23d

Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

Submit a Claim

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · 27d

The Authors Guild's explanation of the Anthropic Settlement has been updated to include recent information.

James R Benn @jimmywriter.bsky.social · 27d

Important information from the Author's Guild about the Anthropic settlement over their use of pirated books to train their AI engine.
authorsguild.org/advocacy/art...

What Authors Need to Know About the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement - The Authors Guild

Background Bartz v Anthropic is one of the major copyright lawsuits brought by authors against an AI company for using books without permission to train large language models. It was filed by nonfict...

authorsguild.org

Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · Sep 23

Not yet. It's supposed to be released in searchable form on October 10.

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Ghostly Bree @mostlybree.kitrocha.com · Sep 8

Since this was described as an official statement from their communications department, I am sharing it here.

It is, imo, the standard every publisher should be meeting immediately. I'm grateful to our team at Tor for being so on top of this. (And also Montlake who registered everything.)

We are writing to provide an update regarding copyright registration concerns in connection with the Anthropic class action settlement.

As you may have heard, the settlement agreement for the Bartz v. Anthropic case has been filed for preliminary approval. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has prepared a detailed press release available here and a list of FAQs available here.

In reviewing our records, we discovered that U.S. copyright registration has not been obtained for some of our authors’ works. From what we currently understand, this was largely our mistake and we take full responsibility. If your work was excluded from the settlement for this reason, we will make you whole by paying you what you otherwise would have been paid under the settlement.

We are also taking corrective action. Our team is conducting a thorough review to identify affected works and close any registration gaps. While this issue is understandably concerning, we want to reassure you that your work has always been protected by U.S. copyright law from the moment of its creation. Registration has implications in the context of lawsuits, but not for the fact of protection.

We regret this error and are committed to making it right. Please reach out to copyrights@macmillan.com with any questions.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · Sep 12

As said below, knowledge is your greatest ally and your best defense--not just against scams, but misconceptions and mistakes. All writers need to be familiar with the basics of copyright.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association @sfwa.org · Sep 12

Copyright is a front-and-center issue in the ongoing class action against Anthropic. Thankfully, @victoriastrauss.com of SFWA's Writer Beware® was kind enough to outline the basics, myths, & issues for us this week.

Writers: Share widely! Some of our best creator-defense lies in everyday education.

Protecting Your Intellectual Property: What You Need to Know About Copyright - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association

by Victoria Strauss of WRITER BEWARE®. Learn why official copyright registration matters, how to protect your work, and what authors need to know to avoid scams and qualify for remedies in the US lega...

www.sfwa.org

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · Sep 11

My most recent article for SFWA's Planetside! Copyright is a complicated subject about which there are many myths and misconceptions...in this article, I try to untangle some of them.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association @sfwa.org · Sep 11

This week on Planetside…

Think you know copyright? This guide clears up the myths and shows authors how to protect their work.

Read “Protecting Your Intellectual Property: What You Need to Know About Copyright” by @victoriastrauss.com of WRITER BEWARE®: www.sfwa.org/2025/09/11/p...

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · Sep 8

I think that if you are trying to understand the Anthropic book settlement, and you are not doing it in light of the (extremely) failed Google book settlement from 2011, you will never be able to understand what is happening.

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Human Creator - Human.global @humancreator.bsky.social · Sep 7

On eve of settlement hearing, Judge Alsup issued order to say he's "disappointed" with missing details (e.g., Work and Class List) in proposed settlement in Bartz v. Anthropic. Also strongly recommends Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger and American Publishers CEO Maria Pallante be at the hearing in

On eve of hearing, Judge Alsup “disappointed” proposed settlement leaves issues unresolved, including Works and Class. Also wants Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger, American Publishers CEO Maria Pallante to attend.

On the eve of Monday’s hearing on the proposed class action settlement in Bartz v. Anthropic, Judge Alsup said he “is disappointed that counsel have left important questions to be answe…

chatgptiseatingtheworld.com

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Michael Capobianco @michaelcapobianco.bsky.social · Sep 6

Last paragraph.

AI company Anthropic agrees to pay $1.5B to settle lawsuit with authors

If approved, the settlement would be the largest in the history of American copyright cases, according to a lawyer for the authors behind the lawsuit.

www.nbcnews.com

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